Standard Pour

Let me start with a disclaimer – I was invited in for dinner at Standard Pour to check out their full menu and write a post. With that said, my lovely readers should know that I would never have an influenced opinion of the food because it was free. Free rocks, but it doesn’t make things delicious.
My blogger friend, Susie Drinks Dallas, and I rolled into “TSP” this past Monday and although it took an uncomfortable amount of time to be greeted and seated, we were stoked to see why The Standard Pour wasn’t standard at all.
After being gussied up with a few cocktails, we decided to let our waitress have the rains when it came to what we ordered. If you haven’t seen the menu over at The Standard Pour, you would be shocked at how detailed and non-bar-ish it is. In a matter of minutes we were greeted with chicken risotto croquettes, ahi tuna sausage and quite possibly the most beautiful cheese plate in town.
I can’t speak on the ahi tuna sausage because as you may or may not know, I don’t fuck with pork products.
Although I had had the chicken risotto croquettes prior to this visit, I wasn’t mad at the fact they brought them to the table. Four perfectly shaped, crispy..balls are laid in a bed of tomato sauce and topped with a dollop of sriracha. These babies are perfectly cheesy without being messy. Crispy without being hard. Saucy without drowning. In other words, they are great. I could use a little extra spice either in the mixture or in the tomato sauce, but I like it to burn.This cheese plate is the shit. I really don’t know if I can articulate just how much I love this thing. Sure, it isn’t the cheesiest in town but it is by far the most unique and I can’t be disappointed in that. The cheese plate includes 2 cheeses, slices of fresh salmon, berries, pickled mustard seed, chicken liver pate, local honey, orange marmalade, dried fruit and it is all served with just-out-the-oven garlic crostini. HELL. YES. I legitimately almost bit our waitresses hand off when she tried to clear it to make room for our entrees.
Three starters and 5 cocktails later, Susie and I had our main courses delivered. The thyme & garlic chicken, potato wrapped ahi and the chicken fingers, duh.
Described as “airline” style, the thyme & garlic chicken is split open and bone in. There is a very crispy skin, almost to the point where it seems fatty and inedible. All of the seasoning seems to be in the skin and when that is so difficult to eat, the rest of the chicken seems bland. With that said, it was still very juicy and the roasted corn succotash that it sat upon was delicious. I can’t say this is something I would order or really even recommend especially when there are so many other options on the menu to be enamored with.Moving on, it was time for the ahi tuna. Medium-sized slices of ahi wrapped in a thin potato crust. A bed of edamame, corn and watermelon radish salad lays underneath the pieces of fish. The salad of this dish is incredible and I wish The Standard Pour would jar it so that I could use it on dishes at home…and by that, I mean eat it out of a jar with a spoon. I loved the concept of potato wrapped ahi but it didn’t seem to deliver. The fish was overcooked for ahi which is normally served seared, the potato crust didn’t seem to have very much flavor but the salad and gravy on the plate make up for that. Something in this dish makes it extremely salty, almost to the point that it seems it the meat was soaked in soy sauce prior to being cooked. I think this dish has wonderful potential but a few tweaks are needed for it to be as delicious as it is beautiful.
The chicken fingers at The Standard Pour are on equal level of attraction for me as the cheese plate. Sure, there are rumors about where the recipe for this chicken came from but who really gives a shit when it tastes this good? Served in a heavy steel pan, the chicken fingers come with three decent sized pieces and a small basket of pommes frites. The chicken is juicy, fantastically seasoned and crunchy at the same time, which makes sense seeing as it is brined then sous-vide before making it to your table. The pommes frites are just ok, clearly fresh-cut potatoes but there doesn’t seem to be much flavor at all. What can be appreciated is that the chicken fingers are served with ketchup, mustard, ranch dressing AND sriracha. ohmygod.Just when we thought we were going to need a forklift to take us our of the restaurant, a little baby angel of dessert was delivered to the table. I’ll put a disclaimer on this right now, it’s only a seasonal item so run as fast as you can to get your hands on this. Eggnog bread pudding is something the chef is very proud of and he should be. I despise bread pudding, I think it is utterly repulsive. However, I would eat bread pudding every day of my life if it tasted this good. A subtle, yet still noticeable amount of eggnog soaks up the bread and is topped with a caramel sauce and fresh berries. I would have liked to have seen a scoop of ice cream served with the bread pudding in order to cut some of the texture, but there is nothing wrong with this dish at all.
All in all, I will say that there were more hits than misses during dinner at The Standard Pour. The menu is so impressive it is a bit difficult to remember exactly where you are – a craft cocktail lounge. Be sure to cruise in here one night for dinner, for Sunday brunch which is served until 4pm or for Mazeltov Monday’s which includes a special Jewish-dish based menu on-top of their ordinary one. Not in the mood for a meal? Get the cheese plate…and the chicken fingers…and the risotto balls…oh, and dessert.